G20 leaders gather for group photo in Rio

Chinese President Xi Jinping and other G20 leaders gathered for a group photo after completing the first session of the 19th G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.

The first session of the two-day summit focused on the fight against hunger and poverty and saw the launch of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty.

While addressing the session, President Xi said that China is ready to work with all parties to build a just world of common development.

Xi said there should be more bridges of cooperation, and less "small yard, high fences," so that more and more developing countries will be better off and achieve modernization.

To build such a world, Xi called for an "open, inclusive and non-discriminatory environment for international economic cooperation," as well as a "universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization," and support for developing countries in better integrating in digital, smart, and green development to bridge the North-South gap.

In his speech, Xi also stressed that China will always be a member of the Global South, a reliable long-term partner of fellow developing countries, and a doer and go-getter working for the cause of global development.

G20 leaders gather for group photo in Rio

G20 leaders gather for group photo in Rio

G20 leaders gather for group photo in Rio

G20 leaders gather for group photo in Rio

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its global economic growth forecasts for 2026 to 3.1 percent in the World Economic Outlook (WEO) report published on Tuesday, while keeping its projection for 2027 at 3.2 percent.

This marks a deceleration from the estimated 3.4 percent growth achieved in 2025. Before the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, the bottom-up forecasts for global growth would have been 3.4 percent in 2026 and 3.2 percent in 2027.

The forecast incorporates the impact of the war and assumes that it will be limited in duration, intensity and scope, with disruptions fading by mid-2026.

Under the reference forecast, global headline inflation is expected to increase to 4.4 percent in 2026 and decline to 3.7 percent in 2027.

If the conflict and the ensuing spike in oil prices last longer, global economic growth in 2026 will fall to 2.5 percent, while global inflation will climb to 5.4 percent, according to the report.

In extreme cases, global economic growth in 2026 could drop to two percent, the report warned.

To be specific, the U.S. economy is projected to grow by 2.3 percent in 2026 and 2.1 percent in 2027, although higher trade barriers introduced since April 2025 are expected to continue to weigh on activity.

In the euro area, growth is projected to decline from 1.4 percent in 2025 to 1.1 percent in 2026 before edging up to 1.2 percent in 2027. The forecasts for 2026 and 2027 are each 0.2 percentage point lower than those compared in the January 2026 WEO Update.

The 2026 growth forecast for emerging market and developing economies is revised down by 0.3 percentage point, to 3.9 percent, while the outlook for advanced economies remains broadly unchanged. With risks still tilted to the downside since the January 2026 WEO Update, the IMF suggested a comprehensive policy package combining domestic measures with coordinated international actions to strengthen resilience and foster adaptability.

It also stated in the report that "trade restrictions play a limited role in correcting imbalances but can worsen output," and urged countries to cooperate and take coordinated actions to restore stability to international economic relations.

IMF lowers global growth forecast for 2026 to 3.1 pct